Concepcion Industrial Corporation, the country's leading provider of consumer lifestyle and building industrial solutions, reported a 50 percent drop in unaudited attributable net income to P471 million in 2020.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the firm said unaudited full year 2020 net sales ended at P10.8 billion, 29 percent lower than 2019's numbers. Including Midea, CIC's overall sales decreased by 24 percent.

“The 2020 result was largely affected by effects of COVID on the market particularly during the first half 2020 lockdowns. Both consumer as well as commercial markets slowed down during the early parts of 2020,” CIC said. 

It added that, “Overall second half results are quite encouraging as some uptick and recovery in the consumer segment began in the third quarter.”

Second half results showed a lower decline in net sales of 13 percent with moderate growth in Profit After Tax (PAT) of 5 percent, resulting in a PAT of P682 million from break-even in the first half.

Second half performance was impacted by softer demand in the air-conditioning segment as well as the commercial segment affected by slowdown in construction. Domestic refrigerators and consumer appliances show positive signals of recovery.

"Our focus throughout 2020 was to ensure our readiness as an organization even as we put temporary measures to temper the impact of very weak demand,” said CIC Chairman Raul Joseph A. Concepcion.

He added that, “We continue to make investments in re-energizing our brands, the right technology platforms, and innovation as we open the doors to better days ahead in 2021."